Magister Legum - LLM / This mini-thesis examines the issue of the implementation of the socio-economic rights provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples‘ Rights (ACHPR) at the national level, in a case study of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). These rights which comprise the right to property, the right to work, the right to health, the right to education and the protection of the family and cultural rights in Articles 14 to 18 of the ACHPR are provided for and guaranteed in the DRC Constitution of 18 February 2006 in Articles 34 to 48 and, accordingly, are legally enforceable under the Constitution. This study was motivated by the fact that despite the enforceability of these rights under the DRC Constitution, the real situation in the DRC remains worrying in that the economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR) of the ACHPR are violated from day to day by the government. The majority of Congolese live in poverty, disease and ignorance; they lack jobs, food and other basic necessities, such as, water and electricity, in spite of DRC‘s abundant natural resources (such as, oil and gas); minerals (such as cobalt, vanadium, manganese, phosphate, and bauxite); iron ore; and precious tropical rain forests. This situation is due to certain reasons, including: bad governance; mismanagement of public finances by political authorities at the expense of the majority; lack or weakness of the institutions or organs of implementation; and the ignorance of the Congolese people about their socio-economic rights even if they are massively violated by their government. Consequently, the marginalisation of socio-economic rights which results in their non-protection and non-realisation in DRC leads to a low expectation of the State and Government by the people, corruption, exclusion, racism, xenophobia, inequality, diseases, poverty, a feeling of betrayal of the people, a crisis of state and governmental legitimacy, popular insurrections and civil war in the country. To prevent the above consequences requires the DRC State to comply with Article 1 of the ACHPR which declares that the Member States of the Organization of African Unity that are parties to the ACHPR shall recognise the rights, duties and freedoms enshrined in it and shall undertake to adopt legislative or other measures to give effect to them. In addition, as the ACHPR complements human rights protection at the domestic level where the rights protected in the Charter should be realised, it is important for DRC to ensure that the ESCR of the ACHPR protected in its Constitution are given full legal effect under domestic law, such that the Charter‘s rights are made justiciable.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This study adopts a comparative approach to analysing the realisation of socioeconomic rights by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as compared with the European Commission and the Inter-American Commission. It examines the different approaches the Commission has adopted in interpreting the socioeconomic rights provision of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights with a view to assessing its appropriateness or otherwise. In addition, the study discusses some of the major challenges facing the African Commission which sometimes makes it difficult for the Commission to meet its obligations in realising socioeconomic rights guaranteed in the Charter. It then compares the approach of the African Commission with other regional human rights bodies such as the European Courts on Human Rights and the Intern-American Commission on Human Rights. It concludes by noting that the African Commission can learn some lessons from the experiences of the European and Inter-American systems on human rights with regard to the realisation of socioeconomic rights.

Since 1981, when the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights was adopted on the platform of the Organisation of African Unity, one of the main challenges for players in the field of human rights in Africa has been to find effective fora in which the rights of the most vulnerable can be vindicated. The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, together with other African human rights instruments, the global human rights instruments to which African states are parties and national bills of rights entrenched in the national constitutions of most African states make up the body of human rights norms that exist for the benefit of victims of human rights violation in the continent. This body of normative standards are expected to be given effect at the national level. However, given that the expectation has not always been met, international supervisory bodies have played an increasingly important role in the African human rights landscape. At the continental level, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights which was established under the African Charter was the original forum for the vindication of human rights for a number of years. Over the years, other continental human rights supervisory bodies have been established under the defunct OAU and the AU. National human rights institutions and these continental bodies have gained recognition as the structures of the African human rights architecture. However, since the early part of the new millennium, new institutional actors have begun to appear in the African human rights landscape. Originally established as vehicles for subregional economic integration, regional economic communities (RECs) in Africa have expressly or implicitly authorised their organs and institutions to engage actively in the field of human rights. This trend has been most evident in the operations of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The entry of African RECs in the continental landscape has raised several questions. From the perspective of international law, against the background of the principle of attributed competence that guides the existence and operations of international organisations, the question of legality and legitimacy is triggered. From the perspective of protecting the unity and continued existence of the African human rights system, questions relating to the feasibility and desirability of REC involvement in the African human rights landscape emerge for determination. Using ECOWAS as the main case study but also touching on the budding human rights activities of the East African Community and the Southern Africa Development Community, this study has sought to demonstrate that REC involvement in the field of human rights is legitimate and feasible. Combining descriptive, prescriptive and comparative analytical approaches, this study argues that African RECs, in particular ECOWAS, can be effective vehicles for human rights realisation in Africa without compromising their original stated objectives or upsetting the work of the structures in the traditional African human rights architecture. Extracting the challenges that can be associated with REC involvement in the field of human rights, this study sets up the criteria for a non-disruptive model for subregional realisation of human rights under the platform of RECs in Africa. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Centre for Human Rights / unrestricted

Examines the state of academic freedom in Africa and the extent to which it is protected. Focuses on how the African Commission can adopt an interpretation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to encapsulating protection of the human right to academic freedom / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2006. / A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Patrice Vahard of the Faculaty of Law, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The purpose of this work is to appraise the mandate of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, seek out the loopholes and loose ends and propose positive and proactive ways in ensuring the fulfilment of the mandate of the Committee for an effective child rights promotion and protection in Africa. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Professor Tilahun Teshome, Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The achievements made at the continental level since 21 October 1986 when the African Charter on Human and Peoples‟ Rights (African Charter) came into force have been modest yet significant. Following its adoption, the African Charter was hailed as a very ambitious document. This is because of its uniquely African features: emphasis on morality, anti-colonial stance, absence of derogations justiciability of economic, social and cultural rights, recognition of peoples‟ rights as well as the imposition of duties on states and individuals. As a result of these distinctive characteristics, many scholars have criticised the normative framework of the Charter. Sindjoun is of the view that the Charter is „window-dressing for the purpose of acceding to international civilization.‟ Ouguergouz described the rights guaranteed in the Charter as „imprecise‟ and that „the pertinent clauses of the African Charter offer only weak legal protection to the individual.‟ Early writings on the Charter also raised doubts about the likelihood of its implementation. Good or bad as the normative standards of the Charter may be, Heyns and Viljoen are of the view that „the conceptual battle is over.‟ The relevant battle now is for implementation. Thus recent discourses on the Charter have shifted from celebrating or further criticising the Charter‟s distinctive normative framework to evaluating its implementation mechanism. A system of human rights is only as good as its enforcement mechanism. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

The African Charter on Human and Peoples‟ Rights (the Africa Charter), which is one of the constituents of the African human rights system, was adopted by the Assembly of Head of States and Governments of the OAU in 1981 and entered into force five years later in 1986. The African Charter covers a wider range of rights when compared to the other regional human rights instruments, such as the European and the Inter-American Human Rights Systems. As many writers indicated, the Africa Charter is designed to reflect the history, values, traditions, and development of Africa by joining collective rights and individual duties. The African Commission on Humans and Peoples‟ Rights (the Commission) is responsible for the enforcement of the African Charter. Currently, the African Charter has been ratified by 53 countries. South Africa has signed, ratified and deposited the Charter on 09 July 1996. / Prepared under the supervision of Dr. Letitia van der Poll, Faculty of Law of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Magister Legum - LLM / The right to a basic education is recognised as an essential right in international and regional law, with numerous instruments regulating it.1 There are soft laws, in the form of General Comment documents, which provide guidelines to interpreting this right.2 Among these instruments, for example, the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights (hereafter referred to as ‘the ICESCR’) and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (hereafter referred to as ‘the ACHPR’) implore member states to ensure that every child within their jurisdiction is able to gain access to education.3 The ICESCR acknowledges that basic education as a socio-economic right is realisable overtime, its full realisation dependent on the availability of state resources.4 Furthermore, the state is required to ensure that ‘scientific and technical knowledge’ is made accessible, thus incorporating modern teaching and learning methods.5 In addition, the state is called to ensure that the quality of their education is acceptable and of a similar standard in all of their public schools.6 Moreover, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereafter referred to as the ‘CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (hereafter referred to as the ‘ACRWC’) require the state to take measures that will encourage learners to attend school regularly and thus reduce the dropout rates.7 These instruments lay down normative standards, giving guidance on the content of the right to basic education, i.e. defining what availability, accessibility, acceptability, and the adaptability (4As) means within the broader context of the right to basic education. The right to a basic education, in theory is immediately realisable; however in practice, it can be argued that it is being treated like other socio-economic rights, subjected to the principle of progressive realisation.8 This right, unlike other socio-economic rights in South Africa, is sui generis, it has no internal qualifiers, meaning that it can only be limited in terms of a law of general application that is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society founded on human dignity, freedom and equality.9As a party to most of the above instruments, the post-apartheid government of South Africa through its Constitution10, has entrenched the right to basic education under section 29(1)(a). Through this constitutional recognition, numerous legislation and policy documents have been enacted, which directly deal with the implementation of this right.11 Accordingly, the following selected legal instruments have been essential tools used to assist the relevant stakeholders with defining and implementing the right to a basic education , not just at the national level but also provincially.12 These instruments are the South African Schools Act,13 National Education Policy Act14 and the Employment of Educators Act,15 which are the main statutes on basic education. In addition, the Eastern Cape Schools Education Act,16 Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act,17 Children's Act,18 Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act,19 Criminal Procedure Act and the Refugees Act,20 which shall be discussed in detail in chapter 4 of the study When assessing the availability, accessibility, and the acceptability of basic education resources in the Eastern Cape (hereafter referred to as ‘the EC’), the province appears to be lagging when compared to some of the other provinces. For instance, the National Education Infrastructure Management System Report (hereafter referred to as ‘NEIMSR’) stated that out of the 5393 schools audited from the EC, 1945 of these schools had pits and 37 had no sanitation facilities21. In addition, 92.99% of the 5393 schools in the province do not have libraries and 4.21 % of the schools recorded have adequately resourced libraries.22 This is to be contrasted to 63.24% schools that have libraries in Gauteng.23 In addition, the illiteracy rate in the province is estimated at 10, 4% when compared to other provinces, which is against the background that the province has experienced a decline in learner enrolment over the last few years.

LLM / Department pf Public Law / Capital punishment has been widely applied by countries since time immemorial. The concept, however, is highly controversial. That is, on the one hand, the anti-abolitionist states argue that it is an effective form of punishment, on the other side; the abolitionist states contend that it is an unjustifiable infringement of people’s fundamental right to life. There have been calls, both regionally and globally, for a moratorium on the death penalty. The Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was promulgated as a move towards the abolition of the death penalty in all countries and states in the world. Article 1 (2) of the instrument states that, “Each state party shall take all necessary measures to abolish the death penalty within its jurisdiction”. At regional level, Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights provides that all human beings are inviolable and entitled to the respect and integrity of their person. As such, no one may be deprived arbitrarily of this right. In addition, Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter provides that the death penalty shall not be applied by state parties in their territories or any person within their jurisdiction. Despite the current global and regional trends towards the abolition of the death penalty and its inherent controversy, Zimbabwe remains anti-abolitionist, and entrenched the death penalty in section 48 (2) of its 2013 Constitution. Adopting a doctrinal research methodology, the study critically analyses section 48 (2) (d) of Zimbabwe’s Constitution, and examines how it affects key fundamental rights as well as the way forward in the light of the international human rights standards on the death penalty. / NRF

<p>It is within the context of the persistent feminisation of the HIV and AIDS pandemic that this study, based on the normative provisions of the African Women's Protocol, focused on gender, sex and sexuality in the context of HIV and AIDS. The regime of the African Women's Protocol embodies a framework that can be utilised to combat HIV/AIDS amongst women in Africa by addressing some of the most important issues that need to be tackled if women are to live through this epidemic.</p>